The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today

The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.

U.S. will help S. Korea find alternatives to Iran oil: official

The United States will continue to help South Korea find alternatives to imports of Iranian oil, a senior U.S. official said Monday. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV, shortly after Washington announced an end to waivers for purchases of Iranian crude.

4 parties agree to fast-track election reform, investigation unit bills

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and three opposition parties agreed Monday to fast-track bills on an electoral reform and the establishment of a unit to investigate high-ranking government officials over corruption. Excluding the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the four parties reached a package deal about the adoption of a new proportional representation election system and the establishment of the investigative unit. Last month, the parties reached a tentative deal on an election overhaul, but they had been sharply divided over the scope of authority to be given to the probe unit.

Credit finance firms' net profit edges up in 2018

Earnings of South Korea's credit finance firms edged up last year from a year earlier, thanks to a steady gain in interest income from household and corporate lending, data showed Tuesday. The combined net income of 97 credit finance companies reached 1.94 trillion won (US$1.69 billion) in 2018, up 1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)

KCNA: N. Korean Leader to Visit Russia Soon

North Korea's state media reported that the North's leader Kim Jong-un will soon visit Russia for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Tuesday that Kim will pay a visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of Putin.The KCNA did not say when and where they will meet, but Kim and Putin are widely expected to hold their first summit at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok on either Wednesday or Thursday. The Kremlin also announced earlier the two would meet later this month without providing details.

White House: US Ends Waivers for Iranian Oil Sanctions

The U.S. has decided not to extend waivers that let countries buy Iranian oil after they expire on May second. The White House said in a statement on Monday that President Donald Trump decided not to reissue the Significant Reduction Exceptions(SREs). It added the decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue. The statement also said the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world’s great energy producers, along with their allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied.

Creditors to Provide 1.6 Tln Won in Support to Asiana Airlines

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that creditors of Asiana Airlines plan to provide one-point-six trillion won of financial support to address the debt-laden airline's liquidity problems. The minister made the remarks on Tuesday at the beginning of a meeting with the heads of economic-related ministries at the government complex in Seoul. Hong said the creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), will buy 500 billion won worth of perpetual bonds to be sold by Asiana and open a 800 billion-won credit line as well.

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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

N.K. leader to visit Russia soon: N.K. media

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will soon visit Russia for his first summit with President Vladimir Putin, state media announced Tuesday.Kim "will soon pay a visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation," according to the Korean Central News Agency. "They will have talks during the visit." The KCNA, however, did not mention when and where they will meet. The Rodong Sinmun, the North's official newspaper, also reported on Kim's planned trip to Russia without providing further details.It is unusual for the North's state media to report the leader's travel plans in advance.

Creditors to inject 1.6 tln won into Asiana: minister

Creditors of Asiana Airlines Inc. plan to funnel 1.6 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) into the cash-strapped airline to help it overcome a liquidity squeeze, the finance minister said Tuesday. The majority of the financial assistance will come from creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), buying 500 billion won worth of perpetual bonds to be sold by Asiana Airlines and opening a 800 billion-won credit line as well, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a economy-related ministers' meeting.

Samsung postpones release of Galaxy Fold in U.S. market

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday that it has decided to postpone the release of its Galaxy Fold smartphone in the United States due to problems found with the folding screen and related mechanism. The South Korean tech giant, which originally planned to start selling the world's first foldable smartphone on Friday, said the initial market response has been positive with the folding phone showing vast potential. But there are areas where further improvements can be made, Samsung added.

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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)

US will help S. Korea find alternatives to Iran oil: official

The United States will continue to help South Korea find alternatives to imports of Iranian oil, a senior US official said Monday. US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV, shortly after Washington announced an end to waivers for purchases of Iranian crude. That means South Korea, along with seven other economies that were granted temporary waivers in November, will face potential US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil after May 1.

Garbage returned from Philippines to be incinerated Wednesday

Some 1,200 metric tons of plastic waste shipped back to Korea from the Philippines in January and 3,400 tons of waste stopped from illegally being exported are to be incinerated starting Wednesday. The Pyongtaek city government will send the unrecyclable garbage currently held at Pyeongtaek Port to four Gyeonggi-area private incineration facilities.

Government to focus on aiding bio, non-memory chip, automotive industries

The Korean government will focus resources into boosting non-memory semiconductors, bio industry and next-generation automotive technology. According to reports, the presidential office has selected the three industries to lead the country’s economic growth into the future and will tailor policies to facilitate their growth.

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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

Kim Jong-un to meet Putin in Russia: KCNA

North Korea on Tuesday confirmed that leader Kim Jong Un will soon visit Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. The summit would come at a crucial moment for tenuous diplomacy meant to rid the North of its nuclear arsenal, following a recent North Korean weapons test that likely signals Kim's growing frustration with deadlocked negotiations with Washington. The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency released a terse, two-sentence statement that announced Kim ''will soon pay a visit to the Russian Federation,'' and that he and Putin ''will have talks.'' A date for the meeting was not immediately released, and it wasn't clear if Kim would fly or take his armored train. There are some indications that the meeting will be held in the far-eastern port of Vladivostok, not too far from Russia's border with the North.

Harris: there is 'no good enough deal'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must now decide whether to move forward with the stalled nuclear dialogue with the United States, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Monday. "I believe that President Donald Trump has made his position very clear to Chairman Kim," Harris said during a meeting with main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) chief Hwang Kyo-ahn. "And the ball is now in Chairman Kim's court." After the meeting with the LKP head, Harris had a press conference at his residence in Seoul where he shared his views on the recent Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim.

South Korea scrutinizes unlicensed foreign IBs

Financial authorities are keeping a close watch on unlicensed foreign investment banks (IBs) as there are growing voices here that they are exploiting local loopholes to make money without paying taxes. Over the past few years, an increasing number of domestic firms are choosing foreign IBs as organizers when issuing corporate bonds abroad, and nearly a dozen IBs are found to have engaged in the business without securities business licenses in Korea.

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)

More Jobseekers Turn to Vocational Colleges

More and more young people are enrolling in vocational colleges amid a growing job shortage especially for university graduates. But many of them are also older people who seek qualifications for a job after retirement. According to the Korean Council for University College Education early this month, the proportion of students aged 25 or older at 136 vocational colleges across the country rose from 9.3 percent or 64,444 in 2016 to 10.4 percent or 68,621 last year. This year, 5,756 are over 40.

Trump 'Gave Moon Message for Kim Jong-un'

U.S. President Donald Trump gave his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when the two presidents met in Washington on April 11, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. A Cheong Wa Dae official responded to a CNN report about the message by saying, "I believe the message will be delivered if a fourth inter-Korean summit takes place."

Korea's Wage Gap Much Bigger Than Japan's

The wage gap between big and small businesses is much wider in Korea than in Japan.The average monthly salary in Korea's big conglomerates is a whopping 1.5 times as high as in Japan's, but workers in small businesses here are paid 20 to 30 percent less than they would in the island country. The Korea Small Business Institute in a report Sunday said the average monthly salary in Korean companies employing over 500 workers stood at W5.35 million a month as of 2017, compared to W3.46 million in their Japanese counterparts (US$1=W1,137).

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)

Choe Son-hui criticizes John Bolton for comments on 3rd NK-US summit
Since the second North Korea-US summit, held in Hanoi at the end of February, ended without an agreement, North Korea and the US have been waging a fierce battle of nerves outside of the negotiating room, with the North directly attacking the US’ chief negotiators and the US countering those attacks. On Apr. 20, North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui stepped forward to criticize US White House National Security Advisor John Bolton. Choe was pushing back against remarks that Bolton made during an interview with Bloomberg News on Apr. 17. When asked what the US wanted to see before holding a third summit with the North, Bolton responded the US needs to see “a real indication from North Korea that they’ve made the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons.”

N. Korean document reveals strategy to decrease reliance on China, Japanese press reports
A document titled “National Economic Development Strategy (2016–2020)” that North Korea adopted in the 2016 congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) stated that the country needs to become less dependent on China, the Japanese press has reported. Japanese newspaper the Mainichi Shimbun reported on Apr. 21 that the strategy document set the goal of achieving an average annual economic growth rate of 8% and proposed “reducing our reliance on China and expanding foreign trade in a number of areas, including Russia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.” While this strategy was adopted in the 7th WPK Congress, held in May 2016, after a hiatus of 36 years, the specific details and figures in the strategy had not been previously disclosed. The Mainichi explained that the strategy document had recently been acquired by Cho Yun-yeong, a Korean-Japanese researcher on North Korea.

Moon presides over repatriation ceremony for independence fighters in Kazakhstan
During a tour of Central Asia, South Korean President Moon Jae-in presided over a repatriation ceremony for Korean independence fighters whose remains were buried in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Apr. 22. The remains are set to be returned to Korean soil today. It was the first instance of a South Korean president presiding over a repatriation ceremony for Korean independence fighters on foreign soil. The remains were of Kye Bong-woo and Hwang Woon-jung. Kye was a lawmaker in the Korean Provisional Government while Hwang fought against Japanese soldiers in Russia.

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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)

U.S. to end Iran oil waivers

The U.S. will not renew “temporary waivers” that allowed eight countries, such as South Korea and Japan to import Iranian crude oil, according to U.S. media reports from the likes of The Washington Post and The Associated Press on Sunday (local time). The decision appears to be a move by the Trump administration, which has been imposing tough sanctions against Iran, to target Iran’s main source of revenueㅡits oil exports.

Hyundai Motor develops first mobile tune-up technology

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that it has developed the world’s first mobile tune-up technology for its electric vehicle models. The mobile tune-up technology allows the driver to control seven features such as acceleration, deceleration, speed limit, air conditioning and energy use, within an available range with a smartphone or a tablet PC. Unlike the existing driving mode, drivers can now adjust and customize each feature as they want with the mobile tune-up technology, the company said.

Famous creator Park Mak-rye meets with YouTube CEO

“I wish that I would be free of knee arthritis. Dreams have changed constantly and gradually. Susan, what is your dream?”Asked by the old lady with a strong accent in her 70s, a CEO in blonde hair paused for a second and answered that she aspires to make sure that everyone in the world is given a chance to talk about their own story.

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Maeil Business News Korea ( http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)

Huawei to open its world’s first 5G open lab in Seoul in May

The world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. will launch a 5G Open Lab in Seoul next month, its first 5G service development center that will serve as an Asian hub for its 5G business expansion. According to the IT industry sources on Sunday, the China’s biggest smartphone vendor will open its 5G Open Lab around mid-May in Seoul to support 5G technology and service development for Korean companies and consumers.

S. Korean F&B franchises accelerate their inroad into overseas markets

South Korean food and beverage (F&B) companies are aggressively seeking for new opportunities in overseas markets as the local F&B industry is saturated. According to a report released by Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation on Monday, 166 Korean food service companies were operating combined 4,721 stores under 184 brands in overseas markets as of the end of last year. They accounted for 7 percent of the country’s total F&B businesses.

Self-driving car accident liability to be placed on driver in S. Korea

Responsibility for driveway accidents involving self-driving cars will be placed on the driver in South Korea although autonomous cars shift the responsibility of driving from humans to autonomous car technology, according to a government source on Sunday. Rep. Hwang Hee, a ruling party member of the Transportation Committee, is set to table a bill to revise the Automobile Accident Compensation Act this week to clarify the liability for accidents involving Level 3 self-driving cars. The lawmaker had discussed the liability issue which is in a developing area of law and policy, and recently concluded that the theory is the fastest way to protect a victim after an accident.

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What’s ticking around the world at this second?
See what the world media around the world have to report:

USA Today www.usatoday.com aallman@gannett.com
The New York Times www.nytimes.com inytletters@nytimes.com
Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com support@wsj.com, service@wsj-asia.com
Financial Times www.ft.com ean@ft.com
The Times www.thetimes.co.uk help@timesplus.co.uk
The Sun www.thesun.co.uk talkback@the-sun.co.uk
Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cn kf@people.cn
China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn circulation@chinadaily.com.cn
GwangmyeongDaily www.gmw.cn webmaster@gmw.cn
Japan's Yomiuri www.yomiuri.co.jp japannews@yomiuri.com
Asahi www.asahi.com customer-support@asahi.com
Mainichi www.mainichi.jp
Le Monde www.ilemonde.com
Italy LaRepubblica www.quotidiano.repubblica.it vittorio.zucconi@gmail.com
Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de
SüddeutscheZeitung www.sueddeutsche.de forum@sueddeutsche.de
Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports http://colombiareports.com
Bogota Free Planet http://bogotafreeplanet.combfp@bogotafreeplanet.com
El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes http://www.andes.info.ec/en
Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net
The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com
LSM.lv http://www.lsm.lv/en
The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html
Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net
Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com
Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu
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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.
Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM
Sri Lanka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s
Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE
And many other countries.
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